Gotrax GXL Commuting Electric Scooter - 8.5" Air Filled Tires - 15.5MPH & up to 12mile Range

Considering ride share services (Lime & Bird) are not a very reliable service for commuting purposes, I decided to go ahead and purchase an e-scooter of my own and the GXL by GOTRAX was my choice, based on the reviews. I just received the scooter yesterday and I was beyond excited to receive, considering the glamorous reviews and it came in-time as my new commuter to my recently relocated office; my office is one mile from train station. Well, I put it together as directed and rode it down my condo hallway to test it out and it suddenly made an awful grinding noise, then stopped working altogether. I attempted to troubleshoot, but gave up after an hour of frustration. On top of that, the handlebars, which you have to put together upon un-boxing, appeared to be used and were missing screws, making the power box unit unsecured as well; which could've cause this malfunction.I reached out to customer service and was directed to the warranty page. Warranty? I just bought this! It should be a 'no questions asked' exchange if you receive one DOA, like this. So far, this is such an awful first experience, that I'm going to return and wait. Even if I received one in good condition, this experience makes me question the longevity & durability of this scooter before it starts having issues in the future. This is a new and booming market (thanks to Bird and Lime). There will be a lot of competition in days to come. Get it together, GoLabs.(Update: 9/25/18)One huge area where you should be aware or with this company is the support, or lack thereof.As I initially stated, I was referred to warranty page, where I selected to return the device since I was not feeling any credibility on their end. It took over 3 weeks to get my return taken care of, after I had to escalate by submitting an Amazon purchase claim. I find it funny how “updating your intergalactic phone systems” takes so long these days. Never spoke to a single soul at GoTRAX. 😑Maybe my situation was a one-off? Who knows.What I do know is those who had good experiences with this device, out of the box, start having issues down the road, prepare for very poor support.

Then buy this scooter.If not, beware.I am a 115-lb female and this scooter was broken within the first week. Total motor failure. I contacted the seller about a return, which led me to their company website. A week later, they had not replied (even though they alleged a wonderful 3-day-response time!) A week later, I sent them a bump to the thread. Still no reply.So I took it to the Amazon fraud department and went through there. The seller finally responds to my return request. Great! Now I can return this! It's been taking up space in my apartment and is useless. I just want my money back. Now I can finally get it back!Not so.The very next day, they CANCEL the return request on their side and let Amazon know that their reason is "by buyer request." I found this out at the end of an 8-hour shift at my minimum wage job.So: this scooter will fail almost immediately, then the seller will give you the runaround and try to defraud you. The claims for this scooter aren't even true. It lasts maybe 6-8 miles, not 12; it does not go up to 15 MPH. More like 12 MPH, max.Oh, and -- the first time I tried to leave a review, Amazon wouldn't let me submit it 'cause the at-the-time-all-positive reviews for this piece of junk were "under investigation." Take from that what you will.If you buy this scooter, have decreased expectations for the one or two uses you get out of this. I love using Bird and Lime, but this wasn't even comparable. And since my reasoning for buying this scooter was to save money overall on my rides, this wasn't a good buy either. Instead of $1 to start and 15 cents a minute, this was $470 for about 20 minutes. Do the math, or don't.But either way, DO NOT BUY THIS SCOOTER.

This scooter was purchased just nine days ago and ridden only a handful of times. The rides were smooth and very comparable to the Xiaomi bird scooters around town. In fact, Bird inspired me to purchase one of my own.Everything seemed great until today when I noticed a strange rattling sound coming from the front wheel. It is very loud and embarrassing when going down the street. It definitely sounds like something is wrong with it but I can't figure out what the problem might be since my way to work is smooth and straight.Now I'm afraid I might have to return it which in itself is a huge hassle for me. Then, while I'm waiting for a replacement, I'm without transportation to work.I should have bought the Xiaomi scooter honestly. They are more reputable than Gotrax, extra tires come in the box and there exists a huge community of owners to share experiences. Not to mention all the 3rd party add ons available.Now I see they raised their price from $400 to $430 and all I can do is ask why? It's not worth it if it breaks within 2 weeks. Then add in the cost to mail it somewhere. Then there's the added cost of taking Birds everywhere while I wait for my replacement.I'm very disappointed.___________________________UPDATE August 25, 2018After further investigation, I've discovered there is a bit of play in the front fender allowing it to rock forwards and backwards. If the fender is angled backwards, the inside of the fender rubs on the front tire, which causes the rattling sound as described above. By pressing the fender forward, the fender clears the tire and no rubbing sound is detected. This was such a relief for me as functionally, nothing is wrong with the scooter and I can happily continue to ride this great scooter.Rating has been updated. Will continue to report my findings if anything further develops._________________________UPDATE Aug 30, 2018Just to weeks since this purchase and now the rear tire has gone flat. *sigh*I tried pumping it up but it refused to hold any air. The nice thing is, removing the rear tire was surprisingly easy. Getting the tube off the tire was a nightmare though! Even with tire levers, it took about 45 minutes of grunting and cursing to get that tube out. Be careful. The finish on the rim can chip and flake but I don't see any way to avoid this.After examining the tube it seems to be a pinch flat. I'm not really surprised. It's evident the tube wasn't installed correctly in the first place.The size I need is 8.5 x 2 inches. A quick Amazon search didn't yield many options. On average, they seem to all hover around the 11-12 price point. It's a shame that Gotrax isn't trying to sell these directly to the customer. Now all I'm left with is buying an unknown item and hoping it'll fit. *sigh*